Pin ball game apparatus with supplemental manual

ABSTRACT

A game apparatus is provided having an inclined playing surface and a projection mechanism to project balls onto the surface one at a time. The surface is provided with a plurality of ball receiving pockets, the surface being furthermore divided into upper and lower sections in which the aforesaid pockets are distributed. Two rods are provided which are longitudinally and angularly displaceable with respect to the surface and to each other for purposes of directing a ball on the surface into one of the various pockets.

[ July 17, 1973 United States Patent 1191 Reisinger 10/1932 Gravatt....

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS PIN BALL GAME APPARATUS WITHSUPPLEMENTAL MANUAL [76] Inventor:

Andrew J. Reisinger, 61 Chestnut Avenue, East Setauket, NY. 11733 9/1953France............. 6/1967 Netherlandsa.......t."............

[22] Filed:

[21] Appl. No.: 43,426

June 11, 1970 Primary Examiner- Richard C. Pinkham AssistantExaminer-Theatrice Brown Attorney-Alan K. Roberts [52] US. 273/121 A,273/129, 273/124 A,

[51] Int. A63d 3/02 ABSTRACT A game apparatus is provided having aninclined ing surface and a projection mechanism to [58] Field'ofSearch.................., 122,

273/85,129, 115,116, 129,123,85 D, 119 fifi; 124 12] 121 12] 121 E ontothe surface one at a time. The surface is provided e surface beingfurthermore divided into upper and lower sec- Reierences Cited with aplurality of ball receiving pockets, th

1 UNITED STATES PATENTS tions in which the aforesaid pockets, aredistributed. Two rods are provided which are longitudinally andangularly displaceable with respect. to the surfa ce and to each otherfor purposes of directing a ball onthe' surface into one of the variouspockets.

3 Claims, Drawing Figures .mimenm 3.746.341

INVENTOR. NNNNNNNNNNNNNN GER PAIENTEU 1 3.746.341

sum 2 or 3 FIG? " 'INVEN'IOR.

ANDREVI -J. REISINGER PIN BALL GAME APPARATUS WI'III SUPPLEMENTAL MANUALFIELD OF INVENTION BACKGROUND Various games are known which are of thepin ball type and which include supplemental controls for guiding ballsin their descent along an inclined playing surface once the balls havebeen projected onto such surface.

One such apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,094,673 (E.P.Rudolph,Oct. 5, I937); In the Rudolph apparatus, a control is provided which isconnected with a fixed pivot, there being located, on such control,devices extending through arcuate slots in an associated inclined boardto which devices a limited arcuate movement can be given. Such a game issatisfac tory to the extent that it can be employed to test manualskills; however, the control permitted in thisconstruction is verylimited and a substantial lack of control exists over the respectiveballs as they follow a course down the inclined board.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved game apparatushaving a supplemental control.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved gameapparatus wherein a substantial degree of manual control can beexercised.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved gamewhich relies to a greater degree on skill than on chance and in whichthere is afforded an opportunity for substantial manual control.

In achieving the above and other objects of the invention, there isprovided a game apparatus comprising a board means providing an inclinedplaying surface provided with a plurality of ball receiving pockets,there being provision for at least one ball to be projected onto suchsurface to follow a course downwardly along the same. Such gameapparatus is provided, in accordance with the invention, with a controlmeans to engage the ball on the surface and to push the same directlyinto one of the aforementioned pockets with the exercise of certainmanual skills.

According to a feature of the invention, the above mentioned controlmeans includes at least one rod, there being provided a further meansholding the rod on the board for limited longitudinal movement withrespect to the board means.

According to a further feature of the invention, the further meansmentioned above includes spaced parallel bars having elongated slotsthrough which the rod extends and in which the rod is displaceable.

Another feature of the invention relates to the provision of means onthe rods between the bars for engaging the ball, the latter said meansbeing of the size which is too. large to pass through the abovementionedslots.

The above and further features and advantages of the invention will befound explained in greater detail hereinafterwith reference to theaccompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a game apparatus according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3is a fragmentary section of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIIPTION Relative to the game of the invention, a series ofballs 19 are, by means of a projector 22, projected on to an inclinedboard 1 having a series of holes or pockets 2 arranged in two boardsections, an upper section 6 and a lower section 7, into which holes orpockets 2, the player will attempt to push the balls by means of eitheror both plungers 10 which have rubber cups 12 or catchers attached tothem at their ends. A disc 13 is attached at the center of each of saidplungers 10.

The holes or pockets 2 in the two sections 6 and 7 can be grouped indifferent patterns such as lanes, squares or triangles.

The board 1 is supported on a table with legs 5 and 4. Legs 4 arelongerthan legs 5 in order to incline the table towards the player.

The board 1 has a border or edge 8 which protrudes slightly above thesurface of the board 1. A cross bar 9 is fixed to the borders 8 betweenthe upper section 6 and the lower section 7. This cross bar 9 contains along narrow slot 28, the length of the cross bar 9, through which theplungers 10 are pushed or retract. A second cross bar 11 is fixed to theborders 8 at the lower end of the board 1. This cross bar 11 alsocontains a log narrow slot 29, the length of the cross bar 11, throughwhich the plungers 10 are pushed or withdrawn.

The cross bar 11 will stop the plungers l0 at the handles 14 of theplungers I0 when the plungers 10 are pushed forward and will stop theplungers 10 at the disks 13 when the plungers 10 are withdrawn. Thecross bar 9 will stop the plungers 10 by means of the disks 13 when theplungers 10 are pushed forward; it will also stop the plungers 10 bymeans of the rubber cup or catcher 12 when the plungers 10 arewithdrawn.

A guard rail 15 deflects the balls to the playing area.

An extension of the guard rail 16 also deflects the balls to the playingarea. Another extension of the guard rail 16A deflects the balls to thelower playing area.

The holes or pockets 2 are given certain values. Pocket 18 is the mostdifficult and has the greatest value. Pins 17 placed nearby the holes orpockets 2 will deflect the ball away from the pockets 2.

A projector 22 covered by a plate 25 forces the balls 19 through aguideway 21. This projector 22 is manually withdrawn from the guideway21 against the tension of a spring placed on the projector.

In operation, one of the balls 19 is placed in the guideway 21. The ball19 will lie against the disk at the end of the projector 22 when theprojector 22 is withdrawn. The force of the spring on the projector 22when the projector 22 is released will force the ball 19 through theguideway 21 onto the game board 1 where it will be deflected by theguard rail 15 towards the holes or pockets 2.

The player will then use the plungers 10 to contact the ball 19 andattempt to push it into one of the pockets 2. Since the upper section 6of the playing area contains the holes or pockets 2 with the highestdenomination, the player will attempt to push the balls 19 into theseholes or pockets 2 with the rubber cups or catchers 12 attached to theends of the plungers 10.

As the moving ball 19, which moves downwardly under the influence ofgravity, is being constantly turned aside by the pins 17, it may be verydifficult to push the ball 19 into one of the pockets 2 in the uppersection 6 by means of the catchers 12 at the end of the plungers 10. Thefree ball will then go towards the lower section 7 of the pockets 2where it may be contacted by the disks or second catchers 13 on theplungers to be pushed into the holes or sockets (2) in the upper 6 orlower 7 sections.

Should the second catchers or disks l3 miss the free moving ball 19, theball 19 would fall into the hole or groove 26 marked OUT and no scorewould register. If however, the ball 19 should fall into the segments 27on either side of the hole or groove marked OUT 26, the player willreceive another opportunity to project the ball.

After the balls 19 drop into a hole or pocket 2 they will roll downanincline to the bottom of the board 1 into a compartment 20 containinga ramp 34 (FIG. 2) where the balls will be racked up. The right side ofthis compartment 20 is provided with a slot covered with a pivoted gate35. The balls 19 will roll out into a tray when the lever 37 isdepressed.

The registering device 30 contains windows 30A which show the score.This device is not part of the invention.

The holes or pockets 2 are equipped with a trap door 38 (FIGS. 3 and 4)which is pivoted 39 and has a contact arm 40. When a ball 19 has entereda hole or pocket 2 its weight will depress the trap door 3 and the ballwill fall to the bottom of the board 1 into the compartment 20. When theball 19 falls through the hole or pocket 2 it will touch a fixed contactarm 41 hooked up to an electric circuit. The touching between thecontact arms 40 and 41 closes a circuit and causes the registeringmachine to add the score.

I claim:

l. Asurface game apparatus comprising an inclined board, said boardhaving upper and lower sections, each section containing pockets toreceive a ball projected onto said board, manually operated elongatedplungers for pushing said ball into said pockets, attachment means forattaching said plungers to said board, said attachment means includingfirst and second bars each provided with slots, said first bar servingas a dividing boundary for said upper and lower sections but beingdisposed to permit a ball to pass between said sections, and said secondbar being attached to the lower end of said board parallel to said firstbar, said plungers extending through said slots, each plunger includingfirst means at one end for projecting a ball disposed on said uppersection toward a pocket and further means intermediate its ends forprojecting a ball disposed on said lower section toward a pocket.

2. Game apparatus comprising board means providing an inclined playingsurface provided with a plurality of ball receiving pockets, at leastone ball, means to project said ball onto said surface at an uppersection of the latter whereafter the ball moves downwardly under theinfluence of gravity along said surface, means to divert the downwardlymoving ball from entering into any of said pockets, control means toengage said ball on the surface and to push the ball upwardly into oneof said pockets, said control means including at least one manuallyoperable rod, further means holding said rod on said board means forboth limited longitudinal and lateral movement with respect to saidboard means, said further means including spaced parallel bars withelongated slots through which said rod extends and in which the'rod isdisplaceable, and means on the rod between the bars for engaging theball, the latter said means being of a size which is too large to passthrough said slots, one of said bars effectively di viding said surfaceinto upper and lower sections while being spaced from said surface topermit movement of the ball between said sections, said pockets beingdistributed in both said sections.

3. Game apparatus as claimed in claim 2 comprising ball engaging meanson said rod in said upper section. i

1. A surface game apparatus comprising an inclined board, said boardhaving upper and lower sections, each section containing pockets toreceive a ball projected onto said board, manually operated elongatedplungers for pushing said ball into said pockets, attachment means forattaching said plungers to said board, said attachment means includingfirst and second bars each provided with slots, said first bar servingas a dividing boundary for said upper and lower sections but beingdisposed to permit a ball to pass between said sections, and said secondbar being attached to the lower end of said board parallel to said firstbar, said plungers extending through said slots, each plunger includingfirst means at one end for projecting a ball disposed on said uppersection toward a pocket and further means intermediate its ends forprojecting a ball disposed on said lower section toward a pocket. 2.Game apparatus comprising board means providing an inclined playingsurface provided with a plurality of ball receiving pockets, at leastone ball, means to project said ball onto said surface at an uppersection of the latter whereafter the ball moves downwardly under theinfluence of gravity along said surface, means to divert the downwardlymoving ball from entering into any of said pockets, control means toengage said ball on the surface and to push the ball upwardly into oneof said pockets, said control means including at least one manuallyoperable rod, further means holding said rod on said board means forboth limited longitudinal and lateral movement with respect to saidboard means, said further means including spaced parallel bars withelongated slots through which said rod extends and in which the rod isdisplaceable, and means on the rod between the bars for engaging theball, the latter said means being of a size which is too large to passthrough said slots, one of said bars effectively dividing said surfaceinto upper and lower sections while being spaced from said surface topermit movement of the ball between said sections, said pockets beingdistributed in both said sections.
 3. Game apparatus as claimed in claim2 comprising ball engaging means on said rod in said upper section.